What Led To Teen's Death Still A Mystery

A day after a recent Southingon High School graduate was shot and killed in his parents' home, police were trying to figure out what led to his death and whether it was homicide, suicide or an accident.

Joseph Ozga, 18, was found at 949 South End Road on Tuesday afternoon with a single gunshot wound. He was taken to St. Mary's Hospital in Waterbury, where he was pronounced dead at about 5:30 p.m., police said.

The shooting happened around the time Ozga's father, Edward Ozga Jr., called police to report that his son was stealing items from the home, police said. Edward Ozga Jr. reported the so-called "domestic theft" at 1:53 p.m.

Police found a handgun at the scene, said Sgt. Lowell DePalma, but he couldn't say to whom the gun belonged or whether the owner had a permit.

"They're still analyzing evidence," DePalma said of investigators working on the case. "They're not saying murder or suicide," he said, or whether the fatal shooting was an accident.

An autopsy is tentatively planned for Thursday. No arrests have been made.

By late Wednesday morning, police had finished their investigation at the house. The only hints of a violent death were some crime scene tape and long-extinguished tealight candles that sat on the ground under the mailbox.

Edward Ozga Jr. and his wife, Robin, own the two-story raised ranch. They bought it in October 1992, according to property records. Edward Ozga is a former fire captain for Southington Company No. 3 in the Milldale section of town, according to a former town official.

Another son, also named Edward, is serving an eight-year sentence at the MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution in Suffield for second-degree robbery and burglaries. The robbery charge stemmed from the knifepoint hold-up of his former landlords, an elderly couple. That son had drinking, drug and emotional problems, a judge said during his 2008 sentencing.

Joseph Ozga graduated from Southington High School this year. He was a volunteer firefighter in the same company as his father and played football for the Blue Knights, according to neighbors.

He also played lacrosse, which is how Darek Karwowski, a sophomore at Southington High School, knew him.

"He was a really bright-spirited guy," he said. "He was always smiling."

A Facebook page called "R.I.P. Joe. Always Missed, Never Forgotten" was created in memory of Ozga Tuesday night after police identified him as the shooting victim.

Courant Staff Writers Hillary Federico and Hilda Munoz contributed to this story, as did John Charlton Jr. of Fox CT.